This invention relates to storing and dispensing receptacles for relatively flat articles.
In the packaging of over the counter medication such as aspirin, antacids and the like, it has become commonplace to package a single dosage of one or two capsules or tablets in an individually wrapped packet. Such packets are then typically fastened to a display board which is placed in a convenient location so that the consumer or retailer may easily remove a single packet for use by the consumer. When replenishment is necessary the use of display boards requires either re-application of packets by staples or other means to the board once the supply has been depleted. Frequently more than one type of non-presciption medication is provided on the display board and a first brand or type of medication may be depleted before the remaining brands or types of medications are sold. This leads to either a restock of the display by stapling or other fastening of packets to the display or else the display card remains in place without a full complement of products for sale.
The use of a packet dispenser assists in obviating some of these problems. Those dispensers currently known in the art fail to provide satisfactory features for the dispensing of individual packages of over the counter medication and the easy restock thereof while at the same time providing a receptacle which effectively communicates the contents to the consumer. A dispenser such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,325 provides a carton which dispenses uniformly shaped packets (such as tea bags in pouches) through a front opening. The packets must be inserted in the carton such that the rear edges of the packets engage the rear wall of the carton below the engagement of the front edges of the packets with the front wall. The carton is therefore dependent in configuration to the packet to be dispensed. The engagement of the front and rear edges of the generally horizontally disposed packets with the front and rear walls of the carton is critical to successful operation of this carton.
The container of U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,526 requires that the packets be inserted in the carton in a substantially uniformly arranged stack in a generally horizontal fashion. This container would not provide appropriate front wall dispensing of a jumbled cluster of packets as such packets would tend to tumble freely from the container. In addition, such a container is dependent generally on the shape and side of a packet to be dispensed.
The container of U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,911 provides a side by side arrangement of gravity fed bins from which the packet may be lifted by the consumer. In this device, paired or single bins are provided from a single blank which is appropriately folded into the carton configuration. Removal of one of a bin pair cannot be made and therefore, any permanent labeling of the bins will restrict the product to be dispensed therein.
The instant invention provides improvements over these prior devices to solve the problems indentified.